Pressure and vacuum relief valve



June 10, 1952 P. BQDRANE 2,599,979

PRESSURE AND VACUUM RELIEF'VALVE Filed Jfily 14, 1950 2 Sl-iEETS-SHEET lBummer EB zya 77d Gttorneg June 10, 1952 P. B. DRANE 9 PRESSURE ANDVACUUM RELIEF VALVE Filed July 14, 1950 ZSHEETS-SHEET 2 I /4 7 I m M 6,27 k 2/ 7 a 2d" 30 \I" 2 3X 3/ J- 1 In 9 Inventor Phallpps B. flr'ap21/ e 75 Gnome Patented June 10, 1 952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEPRESSURE AND VACUUM RELIEF VALVE Phillips B. Drane, Tulsa, Okla.

Application July 14, 1950, Serial No. 173,915

3 Claims. (Cl. 137-53) The invention relates to in line pressure andvacuum relief valves, and has for its object to provide a device of thiskind of a diaphragm type and provided with means whereb gas, passingthrough the valve, at a predetermined pressure, will overcome theexpansive action of a regulating spring and raise a valve off of itsseat, thereby allowing the gas, under its normal pressure, to passthrough the valve. Also to provide means whereby the valve will beclosed by the expansion spring when the gas pressure on the intake sidedrops below a predetermined pressure and remain closed until the gaspressure again builds up to the predetermined set pressure of the devicefor raising the valve from its seat.

A further object is to provide limited axial movement of the valvethrough the diaphragm and independent of the diaphragm so the valve willunseat and allow back flow of gas from the discharge side to the intakeside in case of the building up of a vacuum on the intake side.

A further object is to provide the disc valve with a sleeve extendingupwardly and slidably mounted in a bearing on the axis of the diaphragmand the sleeve with limiting means for limitin the downward movement ofthe valve and also allowing the diaphragm to lift the valve from itsseat when the desired pressure is built up on the intake side.

A further object is to provide the upper side of the diaphragm with aguide sleeve having its upper end slidably mounted in a bearing of thevalve body cover, and a flanged plug in the upper end of said diaphragmsleeve cooperating with the upper side of the cover for limiting thedownward movement of the diaphragm and sleeve and also forming a seatfor the lower end of the expansion spring.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in thecombination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown inthe drawing, described and claimed, it being understood that changes inthe precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope ofwhat is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the valveshowing the valve closed.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the diaphragmcontrolled valve unseated for allowing the passage of gas after it hasreached a predetermined pressure.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the valve unseatedfor allowing back flow of gas through the valve to the intake side toovercome a vacuum which may be created on the intake side.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral I designates the body of therelief valve, which body has a chamber extending therethrough, 2 theintake side of the body and 3 the discharge.

The intake side 2 and the discharge side 3 are in communication witheach other through the central opening 4 surrounded by a valve seat 5.Secured to the upper side of the body I by means of bolts 6 is a cover1, and clamped between the flange 8 of the cover and the upper sideofthe body I is a diaphragm 9.

Bolted by means of bolts 10 to the upper side of the cover I is avertically elongated hood ll having an expansion spring I2 therein.Expansion spring I2 is interposed between a disc l3 in the upper end ofthe hood H, and the upper side of the threaded plug I4. Plug M isprovided with an annular flange l5, which flange engages the bottom ofthe chamber l6 and limits the downward movement of the plug l 4. Thedesired pressure operation is obtained by varying the expansive power ofthe spring l2, and is accomplished by means of the adjusting screw 17threaded through the upper end of the hood I l and engaging the upperside of the disc I3, hence it will be seen that the expansive force ofthe spring I2 can be varied, and the bolt ll locked against rotation bymeans of the lock nut l8. Flanged plug 14 transmits expansive pressureof the spring to the center of the diaphragm 9 through the medium of adiaphragm sleeve [9, which sleeve is slidably mounted for an upward anddownward movement in a bearing 20 in the upper side of the cover 1.

The lower end of the diaphragm sleeve 19 is provided with an annularflange 2 I, which flange engages the upper side of the diaphragm andthis flange is anchored to the diaphragm by means of screws 22, whichpass downwardly through the diaphragm and thence into the plate 23engaging the under side of the diaphragm.

Plate 23 is provided with a central bearing 24, through which bearing isslidably mounted the disc valve sleeve 25. Secured on the upper end ofthe valve sleeve 25 is a limiting washer 26, which washer engages theupper side of the diaphragm and limits the downward movement of thesleeve,. however it allows free upward movement of the valve sleeve 25.Limit washer 26 is held in position by means of a bolt 21 passingtherethrough and threaded into the upper end of the sleeve 25.

The lower end of the valve sleeve 25 terminates in a horizontal disc 28within the opening 4, as shown in Figure l, and clamped between the disc28 and the upper disc 29 by means of screws 30 is a diaphragm 3 l, themarginal edges of which flex upwardly into the annular channel 32 aroundthe disc 29 to insure a positive seating against gas pressure when thevalve is closed. The disc valve is guided by a downwardly extendingguide stem 33 slidably'mounted in the aperture 34 of a guide lug 35,therefore it will be seen that the valve will be axially guided in itsupward and downward movement.

The operation is as follows. Assuming that the expansion spring 12 hasbeen adjusted for the proper pressure operation, gas enters the intake 2and acts on the under side of the diaphragm 9. When the set pressure isbuilt up the diaphragm 9 is forced upwardly against the action of thespring 12, and the diaphragm will thenlift the valve from its seat 5,allowing the flow of gas under. proper pressure to the discharge side 3.This open position is shown in Figure 2. It will be noted-that the areaof the valve is smaller than the diaphragm, hence the diaphragm willpositively raise the valve from its seat. Upon the falling of thepressure on the intake side the expansion spring will move the diaphragm9 downwardly, however the pressure will still act on theupper side ofthe valve and insure it seating until the pressure again builds up onthe intake side. 1

Referring to Figure 3, the parts are shown in the position where avacuum has built up on the intake side,- and this vacuum, along with thespring, immediately forcesthe diaphragm 9 downwardly until itis limitedby the flange of the flanged plugl4, and then the vacuum acts on theupper side of thediscvalve and pulls the valve upwardly to unseatedposition and causes the valve sleeve 25 to slide upwardly through thediaphragm 9 while the diaphragm 9 remains stationary.

From the above it will be seen that a pressure and vacuum relief valveis provided which is particularly adaptedfor in line use, and thatpressure and vacuum will be immediately taken care of under allworkingconditions.

The invention having been set forth what is claimed. as new and usefulis:

l. A pressure and vacuum relief valve comprising .a body memberhaving anintake and discharge passage. therethrough, a valve seatbetween saidintake and discharge passage and surrounding an opening of communicationbetween said intake and discharge, a hood carried by the upper side ofthe body, said hood being attached to the upper side of the body by acover forming the diaphragm chamber, a diaphragm clamped between saidcover and body, a guide sleeve carried by the upper side of thediaphragm and slidably mounted through the upper side of the cover andextending into the hood, an expansion spring disposed within the hoodand exerting a downward pressure on the diaphragm guide sleeve, a discvalve below the diaphragm and cooperating with the valve seat, anupwardly extending guide sleeve carried by the valve and extendingthrough the diaphragm into the diaphragm sleeve, means carried by thevalve sleeve and limiting downward movement of the valve sleeve inrelation to the diaphragm sleeve, a guide stem carried by said valve andextending downwardly through guide means and a flangedplug anchored tothe upper end of the diaphragm sleeve and-cooperating with the upperside of the cover for limiting downward movement of the diaphragm anddiaphragm sleeve.

tending downwardly through the hood and engaging the disc.

3. A device as, set forth in claim 1 wherein the valvecomprises a disccarried by the lower end of the valve sleeve, a gasket carried by theupper "side of the disc and. a clamping disc engaging the upper side ofthe, gasket, said clamping disc being of greaterv diameter than thefirst mentioned .disc-so-that. thegasket will register with valve seat,said gasket being of the same diameter as the clampingdisc, the underside of said clamping dischaving an annular channel into which thegasket is flexed.

PHILLIPS B. DRANE.

REFERENGES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,317,923 I Lebo Apr. 27,19432,367,260 Beddoes Jan. 16, 1945

